All season long, Bernards has proven themselves to be one of the state’s stingiest defensive teams. After a rare defensive lapse that resulted in allowing a goal in the 78th minute, the Somerset County school showed it’s also one of the most mentally tough teams around as well.

Roughly half an hour after having its championship dreams temporarily halted late in regulation, second-seeded Bernards recovered and eventually defeated top-seeded Harrison, No. 16 in the NJ.com Top 20, in penalty kicks by a 4-1 margin in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 title game in Harrison.

The two perennial small school powers were tied 1-1 after regulation and two overtimes.

Keeper Elliot Dietrich made two saves during penalty kicks and Jack Warlick scored the clinching goal in the fourth round of PKs, giving Bernards (17-2-1) it’s first sectional title since 2016. Bernards will play, North Jersey, Section 1 champion Jefferson in the Group 2 semifinals on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Millburn.

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“That was a real gut (punch). They were kinda down about that coming off the field (at the end of regulation) talking about three minutes, three minutes. So what we did was we gathered them around quickly as a coaching staff and told them you’ve controlled the game and kept them out of your back end for 77 minutes and they got a goal. Now, we need to regroup and we need to get back focused in order to win this game,” Bernards coach Joe LaSpada said. “They all just calmed down, thought about a little bit more and they got their confidence back and felt much better about themselves.”

After what LaSpada termed a “solid” performance in overtime, the confidence was high going into kicks with Dietrich in net.

Harrison’s Steven Espinoza scored on the first attempt, but the 6-foot-4 Dietrich recovered and used his size to his advantage in stopping Jairo Araujo and Allan Melo on successive shots.

We’ve been working on him with moving his feet. I thought on the first Harrison shot, he didn’t do that so we tried to scream to him to keep his feet moving so he’s a bigger target,” said LaSpada. “He did that and it really helped out. When he reached and stretched out, he covered more of the goal.”

Bernards meanwhile scored on all four of its attempts, giving Harrison (20-2-1) a heart-breaking loss in the final for the third year in a row.

Bernards struck first in the 48th minute on a Gilberto Ferreira goal. Bernards had allowed just eight goals heading into the Friday, but the high-powered Harrison offense broke through when Mustapha Sowe scored his 31st goal of the season with just 2:40 left in regulation.

“The thing today I got out of our kids is their character,” LaSpada said. “They could have folded (but didn’t).

“We have a really good program and the kids really believe in the program and I’m so proud of them with how they rise to the occasion.”

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